How much did Manti Te'o hurt his stock in the National Championship game against Alabama? Not at all.

Those who read this article each week saw Te'o drop to No. 17 overall in our first mock draft after the regular season ended. This is where Te'o's true value is at—between picks No. 15 and No. 25. Not in the top five as may have been suggested earlier in the year.

The Steelers need to get younger and faster on defense, and in a 3-4 scheme Te'o would be a nice asset next to Lawrence Timmons at inside linebacker. Te'o has the quickness to lock down the run between the tackles, and while he doesn't have great speed, he'll be able to cover most tight ends and backs when Timmons isn't asked to.

Te'o to the Steelers won't fill the team's biggest need, but it does give them youth, speed and impact on defense.

If there's a stud TE, the Steelers need to grab him. Heath's injury has me scared he may never come back the same. If he does, great. This league now has room for 2 receiving TE sets.
RB somewhere in the value range.
Safety early. rnds 1-3
OLB in the top 4 rounds.

Everybody hyped up the Steelers' defense as being #1 in yards, but as we saw from this season it wasn't enough. The defenses in the playoffs may have given up a lot of yards and points, but they also made splash plays. They got sacks and forced turnovers. Changed field position. They played aggressive. The Steelers defense didn't do that until it was too late. You can't expect the offense to march up the field 80-90 yards on every drive and come away with points.

Look at the last game against Cleveland - the defense gave up a lot of yards, but they forced four turnovers and held the Browns to only 10 points. Isn't that what's most important at the end? Yes I know it's Cleveland and they stink, but the point is it doesn't matter if you're giving up a lot of yards if you're taking the ball away and finding ways to keep the other team off the scoreboard.

Wait... are you now saying that the defense needs to get some playmakers???

That's a 180... and very un-Gofor7-esque. Usually you stick to your thoughts... and say them over & over. Why the change for needing defensive help???

That would be amazing. Assuming we draft someone like Robert Woods, too, we could have 5 wide sets and have something like ...

AB - Sanders - Woods - Miller - Bennett

... and have Miller and Martellus running more underneath (for lack of a better term) and 'dink and dunk-ier' routes while AB, Sanders and Woods get open 12 - 20 yards down the field.

Make it happen Tomlin and friends. Make it happen.

Mix all that with a healthy o line and healthy Ben and we're in business! Also, I wouldnt mind seeing Cotchery come back. Hes solid and provides depth and a veteran presence. Someone needs to keep the "young money squad" egos in check. Missing Hines when it comes to that.